


Ghost of a Moment

by shewritesall



Series: Romanogers Short Stories [43]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, On the Run, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Thaddeus Ross is a Horrible Guy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-22 15:50:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22218517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewritesall/pseuds/shewritesall
Summary: Life on the run is never easy for anyone, but to some people, it does come more naturally.  Steve is one of them, Natasha is surprised to discover.  That doesn't mean Ross can't still find them when they make one near-fatal mistake.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov
Series: Romanogers Short Stories [43]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1197295
Comments: 1
Kudos: 31





	Ghost of a Moment

It wasn't often Natasha felt so tired after being on the move all day. Something about fighting off a group of mercenaries on her way back from the markets only to fight off some of Ross's own agents a couple of hours later had really worn her out. Of course, there had been a long car ride and she'd be lying if she said that in itself didn't make her sleepy. Nevertheless, they needed to move and they couldn't just sit and take a quick nap with Ross on their tail. Steve, being ever so kind, had told her he would drive so she could sleep, but she'd been unable to unwind enough to actually sleep and given up after crossing the Polish border.

"Wanda and Sam are worried," Natasha murmured, checking her phone messages to see texts and missed calls from both. She'd been glad they were off on their own when Ross's agents had first attacked. It could have been a lot worse if Ross found out they were all together.

"I thought you'd talked to them," Steve replied, glancing at her briefly. She had, she explained. She'd left them each a short text followed by a longer voicemail message explaining what had happened and that they absolutely should not return to the old safe house. Promising to call them as soon as she and Steve found a new place and got settled in, she told both of them not to worry and to either meet up and stay together or stay wherever they were at the moment.

"They just worry," Natasha said. Steve smiled to himself and muttered something about how they tended to do that. Natasha scoffed. "You worry about them every day after they go off on their own," she reminded him.

"That's different," Steve argued. Natasha rolled her eyes. "They're just kids; they don't know how to hide from everyone in plain sight."

"Oh and you do?" she retorted. Steve just grinned at her. His baseball hat and sunglasses trick worked better than Natasha would ever admit, that much was true, but Steve _was_ rather skilled when it came to being on the run. If she were honest, she hadn't expected it from him, but she supposed she shouldn't have been all that surprised.

They drove through the flat country all night. Not many other cars were out on the open highways and in the multiple small towns they passed, no one was awake. Natasha would have suggested they stop for the night, but Ross would have been prepared for that. Besides, Steve didn't look like he'd be sleeping anytime soon.

"Do you have a place in mind or are we just driving?" Natasha asked hours later. Steve handed her a notebook and she flipped it open. It seemed to be filled with addresses and coordinates, but Natasha couldn't be sure which one they'd be going to despite nearing the border of Ukraine.

"That one," Steve said, pointing to some scribbled coordinates. "It's an old SHIELD safehouse Fury mentioned years ago. No one has used it in years, so it wasn't on the books when the file dump happened after the HYDRA invasion."

"How can you be sure?" Natasha asked, handing him the notebook back. Steve shrugged. He couldn't be sure, but he could trust old technology and when Fury had told him about it, it had already been nearly ten years since the last visit.

Natasha just hummed and sat back in her seat. Hopefully they'd get there soon or she was going to have to make Steve stop on the side of the road so she could use the bathroom.

* * *

Upon arrival at the safe house, Natasha darted straight to the bathroom. Steve busied himself with locking the door all four different ways before carrying what little things they had into the living room. He checked the pantry and was unsurprised to discover it was mostly empty. Except for two cans of beans that Steve thought looked a little old, the cupboards were empty. He was suddenly very glad they'd risked stopping at a fast food place to grab something to eat. They could save the beans for tomorrow if they wanted and if they decided to stay longer, Steve would find a store later on in the day. For now, though, he grabbed his bag from the living room and went in search of a bedroom.

Just like any other SHIELD safehouse, the bedroom was stocked with three bunk beds. All the beds were completely bare, but the chest at the end of one of the bunks held sheets and blankets, that much Steve knew. He made quick work of it, pulling out a set of sheets and fitting it to the bed. Instead of using only one blanket, though, he grabbed three just in case they got cold during the night. Besides, with just the two of them, they didn't have to worry about taking someone else's blanket.

"Looks like the standard safehouse."

Steve jumped, not having heard Natasha walk into the room. He turned to see her smirking as she leaned against the doorframe, backpack slung haphazardly over one shoulder.

"There's even the standard two cans of food in the pantry," Steve replied. Natasha hummed then walked into the room, tossing her backpack on one of the empty bunks. She looked down at the one bed Steve had made up, already wanting nothing more than to crawl under the covers and sleep. The bed was small for two people, but they'd make it work because Natasha was nothing if not stubborn. A stupid little bed wouldn't keep her from her human teddy bear.

"We should probably figure out what we're gonna do next," Natasha murmured. Steve nodded, watching Natasha stare longing at the bed. He knew she was right, but he also knew if they didn't find somewhere else to talk about their plans, she'd fall asleep in five minutes.

"How about we go downstairs and do that?" he suggested. Natasha nodded and reached for Steve's hand. With a smile, Steve laced his fingers through hers and pulled her down the stairs to the living room.

As if drawn to it magnetically, Natasha melted onto the couch as soon as she could, curling up at the end and pulling Steve down beside her. Steve pulled his hand out from hers and wrapped his arm around her shoulders instead. For a moment, he allowed himself to just enjoy having her so close after the close call with Ross's agents hours earlier. He hadn't really had a moment to worry about her which he supposed she would want, but he still liked having her close after such a scare.

"I think we stay here for the night," Natasha murmured, clearly close to falling asleep. Steve felt himself starting to get sleepy too, holding back a yawn so he could say, "That was a given." As soon as he'd spoken, he broke into a wide yawn and Natasha smiled softly up at him.

"Tomorrow," Steve said, watching Natasha's eyes droop as she leaned against him. "Tomorrow, do we want to keep moving or stay here for a couple of days?"

"Move," Natasha muttered. Steve nodded, fighting back yet another yawn. God, when had he become so tired? Maybe Natasha's exhaustion was rubbing off on him. Or maybe he just hadn't had time to realise just how tired he was as well what with driving all day and night.

Steve watched as Natasha's eyes closed once more and her head hit his shoulder softly. This time, she didn't wake back up. Instead of moving her, Steve just let his head drop onto her's and he closed his eyes too. The couch was comfortable enough to sleep on and he really didn't want to walk all the way back up the stairs, so they could just sleep on the couch for tonight. Nothing was wrong with that.

* * *

Everything is a blurry haze when Natasha is pulled from her sleep. No, not pulled from sleep, but pulled from the couch. Who was pulling her from the couch? It was comfortable and she was tired. The strange masked men weren't making it any easier to sleep. How had they gotten into the safehouse anyway? This was SHIELD, no one could just break-in. Besides, who wore gas masks to a robbery and disturbed people sleeping?

"--both here--" voices cut in and out and she tried to go back to sleep, but one particular phrase caught her attention: "Ross'll be thrilled."

Ross? He wasn't supposed to be here. He couldn't find them in a SHIELD safehouse, so why were the robbers talking about him? Did they know him? Oh, this was not good. She'd have to tell Steve in the morning, but for now, why couldn't they let her sleep?

"--bring 'em--"

Someone lifted her from the couch and she frowned, forcing her tired eyes to open. Several of those annoying masked men were walking around the safehouse. Two were carrying Steve. Maybe he knew what they were doing here.

"Stop," Steve muttered. Natasha blearily watched him swat at one of the agents holding him, but his head dropped forward and he was fast asleep again a second later. Something was wrong, she realised. Steve didn't hit good people.

"Le' go," she said, trying to wriggle away from the gas mask that was carrying her. Something vibrated around her and a funny noise met her ears. Was the robber laughing at her? That really wasn't nice of him.

"Go back to sleep," he instructed. Natasha frowned, wanting to argue that robbers couldn't tell her what to do, but he said, "We have it all under control."

Well if the nice robber man had it under control, she could go back to sleep. She let her eyes close once again and this time, they didn't open.

* * *

Natasha woke up with a pounding headache. Everything ached, but her head felt like she was being stabbed with many tiny needles. She forced her eyes open, frowning when she didn't recognise where she was at. A sudden bump underneath her made her yelp in surprise as she realised she was in the back of some sort of vehicle. Confused, she tried to remember how she'd gotten there. The last thing she remembered was talking to Steve about whether to stay in the safehouse or not. Wait, where was Steve?

A moaning mass drew her attention to the other corner of the vehicle and she blinked just in time to see Steve moving slowly. It sure was dark, but she could see Steve just well enough to see he was uninjured. Now she was really confused as to what had happened during the night. At some point, she'd had a weird dream about robbers, but other than that, everything seemed normal.

"Nat?" Steve moaned, blinking multiple times before his eyes focused on her. He sank in relief when he noticed she was unharmed. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Natasha muttered, racking her brain for any hint. The only sort of idea came from her weird dream about the robbers. Maybe it hadn't really been a dream. Perhaps she and Steve had somehow been drugged and given the massive headache she currently had, it wasn't that far fetched.

"I swear I had a dream about these weird bug things taking us from the safehouse," Steve told her. He tried to scoot closer to her but quickly realised his wrist had been tied together. With a frown, he awkwardly scooted across the empty space and offered his hands to her to untie.

"Well, I had a dream about gas-masked robbers, so I think we were drugged," she replied, leaning forward to work on the knot with her own tied hands. She quickly gave up and fidgeted strangely, pulling a very small blade from her bra she hadn't taken off the night before. Steve didn't ask any questions as she sawed through the rope (who thought tying Captain America with _rope_ would work, he wandered).

"How?" Steve asked. They'd been in a SHIELD safehouse, no one could get in once those things were locked unless they knew all the passwords and had a key. Not only that but how could someone have drugged them without them noticing?

"I think Ross may have known about your secret SHIELD safehouse," Natasha grumbled. Steve bit back a retort, knowing it wouldn't help in the slightest. Once his hands were free, he took the mini blade from Natasha and cut through her own bonds. Natasha tucked the blade back where it had come from once she was free and they both hurried to stand up and see about an escape. Another bump made both of them wobble, but it also revealed a small crack in the door where they could likely escape.

Neither of them were dumb; the doors were probably locked to keep them inside. With nothing to hit the doors with, they'd have to either hope the doors were weak or wait until they got to wherever their captors were taking them. The later seemed like a pretty bad idea, so they decided to try and break them down first.

"Be my guest," Natasha said, gesturing to the doors. Steve rolled his eyes and took a few steps back. He ran towards the doors, shouldering into them with a loud _bang_. The doors shook but didn't part. Steve frowned and tried again, moving to the back of the van to get as much of a running start as possible. When he hit the doors this time, they shook a little more but stayed closed.

"Are you gonna help or just watch me make a fool of myself?" Steve asked, only kind of teasing. Natasha rolled her eyes and walked to the back to the vehicle with him.

"I was enjoying myself," she replied. Steve shook his head and with a nod, they both took off running. They each hit the doors at the same time, causing them to fly open and Steve and Natasha to tumble out onto the road. Not fully prepared, Natasha landed on her knees and hands, skinning her hands up as she skidded across the ground. Steve managed to roll a little better but scraped up his arms from the gravel on the road. They both watched as the vehicle they'd previously been trapped in continued down the road. At the next pothole, the doors slammed shut once more and Steve and Natasha scurried off the road into the woods.

"You good?" Steve asked, brushing off his arms. Natasha nodded, picking small stones out of her palms and ignoring her knees.

"A little scraped up, but all good," she replied. Steve looked her over and after assuring himself she was okay, he nodded to himself. They both looked up and down the road, mutually agreeing not to go in the same direction they had been traveling in earlier. They had to have gone through a town, so if they worked their way back, they could probably find a safe place to stay and a phone. Without a word, they both started off down the road, both trying to figure out how to explain what had happened to Wanda and Sam without making them panic.


End file.
